Product Description

What phrase enrages you most? "How are you spelling that?" perhaps, or, "issues around"? When the question came up in the Letters page of "The Daily Telegraph", hundreds of readers nominated the ones they loathed, and thousands more were posted on line. Provoked beyond endurance, Christopher Howse and Richard Preston compiled "The Infuriating Phrasebook", drawing on written and spoken insults to the intelligence from television, radio and the press. Infuriating and entertaining, this A-Z lexicon covers politicians' cliches, business jargon; shop assistants' rudenesses; public-service padding; menu madness and idiotic innovations. "The Infuriating Phrasebook" is sharply illustrated by the "Telegraph's" award-winning cartoonist Matt. All right - You all right there? A patronising enquiry made by nurses to old ladies already humiliated by being addressed by their Christian names. It is also used by shop assistants to customers who have been waiting a long time for service. Blue-sky thinking - Species of daydreaming for which businesses are usually billed by the hour. It can lead to thinking the unthinkable or saying the unsayable [qv]. Enjoy! - An order issued by waiters or baristas [qv] after they have delivered yours. First invented by - The second inventor is deservedly less well known. I'll let you go now - But you'll buttonhole me later. Inappropriate - Used by officials who want to blame people for behaviour that is not illegal or forbidden. The patient used an inappropriate tone when raising issues around ward cleanliness. Jus - gravy. Pan-fried - instead of being fried in an old dustbin-lid. Serving suggestion - On the label of a prepared meal, a warning that the plate, tablecloth, and accompanying boar's head shown in the picture are not included in the small plastic container. Spiral out of control - Residents feared that costs for the leisure complex would spiral out of control. When aeroplanes spiral out of control they go downwards. Spiralling costs seldom do the same. See also: Escalate. You're a star - Excessive and therefore patronising term of thanks for the performance of a routine duty. See also: legend, hero.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #91377 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

Synopsis
What phrase enrages you most? "How are you spelling that?" perhaps, or, "issues around"? When the question came up in the Letters page of "The Daily Telegraph", hundreds of readers nominated the ones they loathed, and thousands more were posted on line. Provoked beyond endurance, Christopher Howse and Richard Preston compiled "The Infuriating Phrasebook", drawing on written and spoken insults to the intelligence from television, radio and the press. Infuriating and entertaining, this A-Z lexicon covers politicians' cliches, business jargon; shop assistants' rudenesses; public-service padding; menu madness and idiotic innovations. "The Infuriating Phrasebook" is sharply illustrated by the "Telegraph's" award-winning cartoonist Matt. All right - You all right there? A patronising enquiry made by nurses to old ladies already humiliated by being addressed by their Christian names. It is also used by shop assistants to customers who have been waiting a long time for service. Blue-sky thinking - Species of daydreaming for which businesses are usually billed by the hour. It can lead to thinking the unthinkable or saying the unsayable [qv]. Enjoy!

- An order issued by waiters or baristas [qv] after they have delivered yours. First invented by - The second inventor is deservedly less well known. I'll let you go now - But you'll buttonhole me later. Inappropriate - Used by officials who want to blame people for behaviour that is not illegal or forbidden. The patient used an inappropriate tone when raising issues around ward cleanliness. Jus - gravy. Pan-fried - instead of being fried in an old dustbin-lid. Serving suggestion - On the label of a prepared meal, a warning that the plate, tablecloth, and accompanying boar's head shown in the picture are not included in the small plastic container. Spiral out of control - Residents feared that costs for the leisure complex would spiral out of control. When aeroplanes spiral out of control they go downwards. Spiralling costs seldom do the same. See also: Escalate. You're a star - Excessive and therefore patronising term of thanks for the performance of a routine duty. See also: legend, hero.

About the Author
Christopher Howse is Letters Editor of The Daily Telegraph and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Richard Preston is masterminding an updated style-guide to the Telegraph newspaper and online media.

Customer Reviews

Good But More Needed
I disagree with most of the adverse comments,as I found the book very funny. But it could have done with being about double the length.

Ditchwater's not as dull as this...

Like another reviewer wrote, I too had higher hopes for this book than it actually delivers.

The title "She literally Exploded", subtitle "Infuriating Phrasebook" and associated blurb led me to believe this little book was going to be about generally humorous expressions of speech where people unwittingly say (upon closer analysis) pretty absurd things.

My personal favourite (which is not cited in this book) is the often heard; "it's always the last place you look." WELL, OF COURSE IT IS! Once you find something, you're not going to keep looking for it!

Or pet-hate; the age-old betrayer of a lazy attitude, "better the devil you know" - if what you know you already know to be a 'devil', change it, you might end up with an angel! (The worst that can happen is you end up with a different devil. So change that one too).

Or how about "getting out of bed on the wrong side" used as though it's a legitimate explanation for rudeness!

Once you get started, it's not too difficult to start making a list of odd expressions, but the authors couldn't be bothered doing this. In fact, the majority of 'phrases' are not phrases at all but single word entries and even these are not humorous.

This unfunny word compilation (the best of the actual phrases are already scattered around this page) is most likely to receive support from friends and colleagues of the authors. Everyone else, infuriatingly, may literally end up exploding.

Nice bookshelf addition
For me this little book was a pleasure and I got more out of it than some other reviewers appear to have done. I smiled lots, nodded sagely in places and even laughed out loud once or twice.
Some of my favourite 'infuriating phrases' are here, including train conductors who tautologically inform you of 'the next station stop' where you must remember to take your 'personal belongings'; also, people who say 'My bad' when they think they've made a mistake (what are you, a Californian Valley Girl from 1995!?). Or waiters who command 'Enjoy' before you start your meal.
Sure, many of the phrases aren't actually INFURIATING; they're also mildly irritating and just plain wrong. Which is the case with the title, She Literally Exploded (which, incidentally, I don't think is a very good title because it implies that the book is more about improper rather than infuriating use of language - see instead Private Eye's Colemanballs books which have whole sections on dunderheads using the word 'literally' incorrectly).
In summary, an enjoyable book, one to browse by the fireside around Christmas time. Pity it's now February but never mind.